i’m a closet buddhist. —april greiman
Proposed magazine cover, 1976–81.
bit-mapped
Greiman’s first experiments with digital were done using CalArts’ analog computers and video equipment. Despite their limitations, Greiman was intrigued. Soon she attended Alan Kay’s TED talk and, story has it, went from the lecture directly to Macy’s department store and bought her first Macintosh (quite an expensive purchase at the time). Back then, graphic designers laughed at the idea of creating work with a machine rather than their hands. The design community was unanimously opposed to the notion. Greiman decided that she had to convince her colleagues of the tremendous potential of the new medium.
Poster, Pacific Wave, 1987.
Pikes Peak Big Fishy, 1994.
Business Card, SCI-Arc, ca, 1990.
It's Not April What You Think It Greiman Is. Poster for the exhibition in Bordeaux, 1994.
Sci-Arc, Changing Concepts of Space in Architecture and Art, 1986.
SCI-Arc Making Thinking, 1990.
i don’t hire graphic designers. the idea of many designers working in virtual isolation is no longer relevant. i hire collaborators who are specialists in their own fields: a webmaster, a researcher, a production artist—depending on the project.
—april greiman
April Greiman’s apartment, From Freestyle, 1986.
design quarterly #133
To start a serious conversation about computers, Greiman had to expose their potential. The perfect opportunity arose when she was invited to design and edit an issue of Design Quarterly (No. 133) in 1986. Technically, her issue did not resemble a magazine at all. It was, instead, a 3-foot tall fold-out poster. Using MacVision, the designer generated an image of her naked body and a variety of graphic symbols, all under the title, “Does It Make Sense?” For many it did not, but the first step toward the digital transformation of graphic design had been taken.
design with Readymag
editor-in-chief
diana kasay
editor
zhdan philippov
creative director
anton herasymenko
layout designer and art director
stas aki
issue designer
sergey kovalchuk
text author
anna filippova
photo editor
yulia lukina-kuranova
content manager
tsvetelina miteva
stories. april greiman